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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29256165">Falling Leaves</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Catherine_Mooncakes/pseuds/eating-mooncakes'>eating-mooncakes (Catherine_Mooncakes)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Keeper of the Lost Cities Series - Shannon Messenger</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, Foxfire (Keeper of the Lost Cities)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 12:20:49</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>768</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29256165</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Catherine_Mooncakes/pseuds/eating-mooncakes</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Sophie's had a crush on Fitz basically since she met him. And as the days pass by, she starts to realize that it might be reciprocated.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Sophie Foster/Fitz Vacker</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>19</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Falling Leaves</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">


        <li>
            Inspired by

            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/755865">Sophitz headcanons</a> by Abby.
        </li>

    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It started slowly. So slowly, really, that they didn’t realize it was happening it all.</p><p>Sophie tried not to read too much into it when Fitz reached out to her telepathically for the tenth time in one day—this time to tell her about a flitterwing he’d seen on the sidewalk. Or when they’d hung out at Everglen after school and she’d caught him staring. Or when he kept complimenting her telepathically during Elvin History until her cheeks were flaming red, and Sir Beckett wanted to know what was so embarrassing about the Elvin-Ogre treaty.</p><p>Which she was entirely sure why she needed to be lectured on anyway, since she was <em>literally there</em> for it. But that was beside the point.</p><p>What <em>was</em> the point was how telepathy class had gone that day. They’d been showing each other memories of their childhood. Fitz had shown Sophie a memory of him sending a letter to a girl he had liked in Level Two. He had hidden behind the lockers, watched her receive it, and subsequently watched her toss it in the recycling bin and whisper to her friend, “All he does is ditch school.”</p><p>Sophie, of course, had found the idea of Fitz being a delinquent absolutely hysterical, which may have resulted in Fitz turning his chair around and ignoring her, which may have resulted in her transmitting annoying thoughts into his head until he paid attention to her again.</p><p>But it almost seemed like he had just been thinking of the right line, because when he turned back around, he whispered, “I learned not to settle for blue eyes after that,” and flashed her <em>that</em> smile.</p><p>But she was getting more used to that smile (okay, fine it still made her a little weak, but not that much!) and managed to regale him with memories of her first crush, a quiet, flame-haired eighth grader.</p><p>But of course, of course, he managed to turn it back around on her again, saying the boy’s smile “reminded him of someone.”</p><p>But even the time in telepathy class couldn’t compare to their most recent splotching match, something Keefe had dubbed “The Ultimate Fitzphie-Off.” He had even passed out pins for prodigies to wear showing who they thought would win. The pins had overwhelmingly been in favor of Sophie. (Fitz whispered to her that he thought the only reason anyone was wearing his pin was that they wanted to pretend to be Vackers.)</p><p>Even so, it hadn’t turned out that way. But he had cheated!</p><p>She had been deep in concentration, shoving the multicolored splotcher (specially made for the occasion) at his face with all her might, when he had the nerve to pant out, “I won for years before you showed up, and I’m not losing now, sweetheart.”</p><p>That stupid little word jerked her concentration, and the splotcher nailed her right in the arm.</p><p>Sophie yelled and immediately reached for another splotcher with her mind, hurling it at him. He slammed the force of his mental energy into it, stopping it right before it hit him, and lightly stepped around it until he was standing right in front of her.</p><p>The splotcher fell to the ground, and Sophie stared up at him defiantly, both of their cheeks flushed (probably from exertion, or so she told herself).</p><p>“You’re a cheater,” she muttered.</p><p>“Cheater? I’m not the one who tried to splotch someone after the game was over.” Fitz put his hands up defensively.</p><p>Sophie narrowed her eyes at him. “I was just righting a wrong. Why’d you call me that, anyway? Makes me sound like your little sister or something.”</p><p>“Little sister?” Fitz smiled crookedly. “I’m afraid that position is already filled. You’ll have to be… something else,” he finished lamely, his eyes dropping to her lips.</p><p>Sophie didn’t have time to work through those implications because, while she was definitely interested in whatever he had to say there… his defenses were wide open.</p><p>Nailing him in the back of the head with the abandoned splotcher was a pretty satisfying moment.</p><p>All that to say… Sophie found that there was something… a little more pleasant…. than missions and training and worrying. Something a little nicer, where two hearts and minds linked, and it felt like home.</p><p>That was a bit sappy.</p><p>But… so was the way she felt around him.</p><p>And after yet another date under Calla’s pancakes, this time with him trying to teach her to dance, the pastel leaves softly falling around them as he spun her through the air, she realized…</p><p>Well, maybe it wasn’t just the leaves falling anymore.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you so much to @thatgirlwithtoomanyships on Tumblr for writing such lovely, detailed headcanons and allowing me to write this based off of them.</p><p>This work is dedicated to everyone that is waiting on my coffee shop AU impatiently as I meander my way through. Love y'all. Thank you for being so patient with me. (If you're unsure what I'm talking about, it's my ultimate project: a Fitzphie coffee shop AU that has a first draft at 29k words.) I just really want to get this right! &lt;3</p></blockquote></div></div>
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